Hi-tech athletic apparel startup gets assist from Warriors co-owner

A Redwood City startup that is creating a line of sensor-embedded exercise clothing has received a financial boost with ties to basketball’s Golden State Warriors.

ATHOS — the company’s name a blend of “athlete” and “ethos” — landed a $12.2 million round of investment from backers including Golden State Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob and longtime NBA forward-center Jermaine O’Neal, who played for the Warriors last season.

Lacob said he first learned of ATHOS because one of its co-founders, Chamath Palihapitiya, is a member of the Warriors board of directors.

“ATHOS is a perfect example of the intersection of technology and sports,” Lacob said in an interview.

ATHOS, which is one of a growing number of wearable technology companies, is making a line of workout shirts and shorts for men and women. The Series B investment round was led by early stage Silicon Valley venture capital firm DCM, with participation from VC firm True Ventures and personal investments from Lacob and O’Neal. Lacob is a former venture capitalist and a director emeritus with Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

The technology uses electromyography to track muscle movement. The sensor signals are then picked up by a Bluetooth LE device called a Core, which sends the workout data to the owner’s smart phone.

The clothing can monitor specific muscles to show, for example, if someone lifting weights is using their right arm to lift and their left hand “is basically just keeping the bar straight,” said ATHOS co-founder Dhananja Jayalath.

ATHOS is taking reservations for the washable shirts and shorts, which are expected to ship this fall. The tops and shorts are priced at $99 each, with the Core priced at $199. That might seem expensive for exercise clothing, but not compared to other similar high-tech athletic apparel that costs nearly $1,000. Lacob said he liked the idea that ATHOS was aiming for the “every day weekend warrior.”

“All of us guys who go on the treadmill or work out with our trainers, we’re always looking to see how we’re doing, or are we being lazy,” Lacob said. “The big market is in the consumer area.”

Right now, there’s no official agreement for Lacob’s Warriors to use ATHOS apparel to train for the upcoming season, but Lacob it was “entirely possible” the players might be interested. He said O’Neal, who is expected to retire, was an example of an athlete who would benefit from the wearable technology.

“When I saw ATHOS for the first time, my immediate thought was how much more longevity it can give athletes by allowing us to train smarter and prevent injury through a better understanding and fine tuning of our bodies,” O’Neal said in a statement.